Historic Women’s Bill Clears Parliament, Opposition Wants Caste Sub-Quota

By Rahil Nora Chopra

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, which ought to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies, unanimously. 454 Lok Sabha MPs voted in favour of ‘The Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ Bill, and two from the AIMIM voted against it. While former Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanded that the women reservation bill must be implemented immediately while pitching for OBC quota within reserved seats, as she declared her party’s support for the bill in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. She mentioned that the passage of the bill will “fulfill the dreams of my life partner, Rajiv Gandhi.” “The Congress party rigorously supports The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. We will be happy if the bill is passed. But I want to ask, in past 13 years, women have waited patiently for this bill. But now, our women have been asked to wait for some more years. How many years? 2, 3, 6, 8?how many years?” Gandhi asked as she opened the debate on the Bill. On the other hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on 20 September said that he supports the bill, but lamented that the measure was ‘incomplete’ as it lacks quota for other backward classes. “It (Women’s Reservation Bill) is a big step and I am sure everybody – the treasury benches and the Opposition – in this room agrees that this is a very important step for the women of our country. There is one thing, in my view, that makes this bill incomplete. I would like to have seen OBC reservation included into this bill,” Rahul said in Lok Sabha. The Congress’ pitch also comes as the party has shunned its anti-Mandal posturing and has been off late advocating the need for a Caste Census and proportional reservation. The Congress stand would be music to the ears of parties like Samajwadi Party and RJD, which have been demanding a quota within quota for OBC women. SP chief Akhilesh said in a tweet, “Women’s quota should be a balance of gender justice and and social justice. In this, reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, tribal women should be clear in definite percentage form.” RJD’s Manoj K Jha said if the idea is to empower women, then there should be a quota within quota for OBC women too. The strong opposition by parties like SP and RJD had prompted the then UPA government not to take up the Bill in Rajya Sabha. However the demand is in sync with the larger Opposition’s caste census demand and the social justice rhetoric could become one of the potent weapon in the Opposition’s arsenal for 2024. CPI(M) and AAP welcomed the bill and wanted it’s quick implementation, while SP, RJD, JD(U) and BSP reiterated their demand for quota within quota for OBCs and minorities. Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the historic Bill that will reserve one-third of seats for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, following thorough debate among MPs across party lines. The Bill was passed with majority voting by all the members of the House: 215 votes in favour and no one against it.

GHOSI BYPOLL RESULTS A WAKE-UP CALL FOR BSP

The results of the recent Ghosi assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh have been a wake-up call for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which had not fielded a candidate despite the caste composition in Ghosi suiting the party. Ghosi has a Dalit population of over 22 per cent. With the BSP not in the fray, a lot of these votes came to the SP, an alarming trend for both the BJP and BSP. Some of senior BSP leaders claim that the emerging and changing dynamics of the Dalit vote may pressure the party to re-evaluate its strategy. Given the Ghosi result, the party will sooner or later have to make clear its stand on joining the INDIA alliance. But Mayawati, they felt, may take an initiative only by December after the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana. On the other hand, BSP has started empowering and strengthening the organisation by organising small cadre-based meetings at villages to expand support base within the ‘Sarv Samaj’ and trying to consolidate its Dalits and Muslim voters.

NITISH WELCOMES PASSING OF WOMEN’S BILL IN PARLIAMENT

In Bihar, JD(U) has commenced its preparations for 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Banners were put up at the JD(U) office bore slogans that sent across a message loud and clear that the party expected its Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to play a national role. While welcoming the tabling of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar not only recounted the steps taken by his government for empowerment of women in the state, but also reiterated his demand for caste census across the country. Nitish said: “We gave 50% reservation to women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in the year 2006. From 2007, we introduced 50% reservation for women in urban local bodies also. We didn’t stop at that. Since 2006, women are being given 50% reservation in primary teacher recruitment and from 2016, provision has been made for 35% reservation for women in all government jobs.” The JD(U) leader also advocated for quota within quota for the backward and extremely backward women.

DELHI BJP MAY SEE FRESH FACES FOR LOK SABHA 2024, ASSEMBLY POLLS 2025

BJP has geared up its preparation in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2024 and likewise the Assembly elections to be held in 2025. Whispers float in Delhi BJP that Central BJP high command might change some of the candidates in Delhi. According to sources, BJP senior leader Dr Harsh Vardhan, Lok Sabha MP Gautam Gambhir and some other MP’s might lose their respective ticket for the Lok Sabha 2024 polls. Chances are that the party might move ahead by allocating tickets to new young faces.

FOR AIADMK, BREAKUP WAS ONLY OPTION; TAMIL NADU BJP IS NOW A LIABILITY

Simmering tension between the BJP-AIADMK leadership in Tamil Nadu came to the fore, as AIADMK senior leader D Jayakumar announced the breakup of the alliance, adding that any related decision would be made only before the next year’s Lok Sabha election. The AIADMK party cadre will not tolerate any criticisms alleged by BJP Tamil Nadu’s state president K Annamalai, the AIADMK organising secretary Jayakumar said. However, AIADMK had earlier passed a resolution against Annamalai when he spoke of corruption cases against AIADMK leader, the late J Jayalalithaa. “We already said if he doesn’t stop, we will have to reassess our alliance. There is no alliance.” said Jayakumar. The BJP leader, however, clarified that he did not denigrate Anna but only quoted history. “They are jealous of the growth of the BJP here,” Annamalai said. “Nobody has fallen on anyone’s feet in BJP to become a leader,” he added in an apparent reference to the sycophancy of AIADMK leaders falling on late J Jayalalithaa’s feet. While AIADMK leaders are in opinion that they had lost all elections it had fought in alliance with the BJP including the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly elections. Now the party has been increasingly looking at the BJP mere a liability. (IPA Service)

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